Pascal's Triangle

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), a founder of the theory of probability, developed the earliest known calculating machine that could perform the carrying process in addition. The machine, finished in 1642, could add numbers mechanically using interlocking dials. Machines like these eventually led to the first punch card machines and computers. Pascal had a great influence on people like Leibniz and Newton. His father was also a mathematician, and made sure Blaise had the best education possible by introducing him to the Martin Mersenne's "Academy" at the age of 14. The academy was one of the best places to study mathematics at the time, and his father was one of the founders. When Pascal was young, he was introduced to the work done in combinatorics and the binomial numbers. His paper compiling the work of the Chinese, Hindus, and Greeks would later cause his name to be permanently attached to the combinatorial triangle forever.